Page 75 of Immortal Consequences (The Souls of Blackwood Academy #1)

Wren

She was in her room.

Everything was the same as the space she’d grown so familiar with: the oak dresser and tarnished mirror.

The bedsheets adorned with depictions of wildflowers.

The white lace curtains and dust-filled shelves.

But Wren knew it wasn’t really her room.

For one, she could feel the effects of the Ether around her—that intoxicated feeling in her limbs, the heaviness pressing down upon her skull.

But there was also one glaringly obvious difference between this room and her real one.

When she looked outside her window, she didn’t see the familiar trees dotting the path to the Main Yard.

Instead, there appeared to be an endless black sky of glittering stars, an entire universe stretching out beyond her.

Wren glanced into the vanity mirror and assessed her reflection.

She hardly recognized the person looking back at her.

They shared the same physical characteristics—bright auburn hair, a pale complexion, thick brows—but that wasn’t who she really was.

She knew there was someone else, someone lingering just beyond what the eye could see.

The person behind the face.

Past Wren. The person notorious for making mistake after mistake, leaving a path of destruction in her wake without remorse. The one who didn’t care to stop and think about how her actions might affect those around her. How her actions might hurt those she loved most in the world.

This new version of herself, with her perfect grades and holier-than-thou disposition, was nothing but a character. A projection for others to see. A way of forgetting about Past Wren and replacing her with something palatable. Something good.

If she could forget about her past, she could forget about the accident. She could put it all behind her.

That was why she had clung to the Decennial with such desperation. Why she had become obsessed with the idea of academic grandeur. But now, all of those dreams, all of that hope inside her had been crushed.

How could she live with herself if she chose to become an Ascended, knowing what it had cost her?

A noise rattled in the distance. It was hard to make out exactly what it was, but she could tell that someone was calling out for help, a palpable desperation in their voice.

August’s words echoed in her mind like a warning bell.

Remember what I told you. About saving yourself.

Wren cursed under her breath. August would simply have to forgive her.

She darted out of the room and into the corridor. She ran, the voice growing louder with every passing second. There was a quality about the voice that sounded familiar—a sharp, commanding tone she knew well. And that was when Wren saw her.

Irene.

She was at the end of an impossibly long corridor. Her body was sinking into the floorboards, her legs consumed by a thick black liquid. She writhed helplessly, hands clawing at the ground in front of her, but it seemed that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get herself out.

“Help!”

Wren didn’t stop to think. She just started running.

If she could get there quickly enough, if she could silence the panic and focus on the air rushing into her lungs, she could save Irene. Offer her a bit more time. But the liquid was dragging Irene down faster than Wren had anticipated. Creeping over her legs and thighs.

By the time Wren arrived, sliding over the floor next to her, the dark ooze was up to Irene’s waist.

Wren reached out her hand. “Grab on! I’ll pull you out.”

Irene’s eyes were wide. Panicked. She nodded, teeth chattering.

Their hands locked together. Irene’s palm was damp with sweat and whatever that strange black liquid was, but Wren held on, gritting her teeth, pulling with all her might.

Wren teetered forward. Dangerously close.

“Hold on!”

The liquid rose past Irene’s waist. Up toward her chest. Slowly engulfing her neck. Her arms slipped under, Wren’s own hand sinking in. But she still didn’t let go.

She couldn’t allow herself to give up.

“Please,” Wren whispered. Her grasp was slipping. If she kept hold of Irene’s hand, she knew she would fall in. That she would meet the same fate. But even knowing that, she couldn’t bring herself to abandon Irene.

“I can’t—” Irene choked as the mud trickled into her mouth. “Wren…I…I…”

And then something happened.

Irene’s panic-stricken face dropped. Her scream cut short. The terror in her eyes vanished.

Her lips curled into a smile.

“Wren,” she whispered. But something wasn’t right. This wasn’t Irene’s voice. “Always such a good girl.”

And then the thing that looked like Irene grabbed Wren by the neck and pulled her under.

Wren landed flat on her stomach, hands breaking her fall. Dirt splattered onto her face, a bitter taste coating her mouth. She winced as she gathered herself onto her knees, eyes scanning the unfamiliar surroundings.

It was an open field, starlight dotting the night sky above her. The grass beneath her was dried and decaying, coming apart between her fingertips.

She had no time to think about what that creature was. Why it had chosen Irene’s face. She had to focus. There had to be a way out of here. It was clear that wherever she was, she’d veered from the correct path.

But before she could start moving, a voice rang out behind her.

“Loughty?”

August was standing a few yards away from her, chest heaving with every breath, his cheeks flushed. He had been running, sweat beading above his brow and down the muscles of his neck.

“August.” She closed the gap between them and threw her arms over his shoulders. Her hands instinctively cupped his face. She needed to know he was real. That it wasn’t just an illusion. But everything about him felt solid. Felt like him. “How are you here? Did you follow me?”

He pulled away and grabbed her firmly by the shoulders. “We need to leave. Now.”

“Leave?” Wren echoed incredulously. “Where? We can’t leave. ”

“I know somewhere we can go.”

“But the soul vow—” She shook her head, his words jumbling in her ears. “We can’t. We have to finish the trial—”

“That doesn’t matter,” August interjected, gripping her hands and placing them against his chest. “I know a way out of it.”

“I don’t understand.” Panic seeped into Wren’s lungs, threatening to consume her like a raging river. “August. You’re not making any sense—”

“Listen to me.” Desperation clung to his voice as he pleaded with her.

“I know a way out of the soul vow. A place we can hide. I…I needed to wait for the right moment. It’s only in the Ether that we can slip out undetected, and even then, it’s a risk.

But I need you to trust me.” He lifted her hands to his lips, placing a featherlight kiss against her knuckles.

“Can you do that for me? Can you trust me?”

Wren tried to speak, but nothing came out.

She was struck by a horrifying realization that made her tense beneath him.

“But…if you discovered a way out of the soul vow…why didn’t you tell the other nominees?

We could have…we could have tried to find a way into the Ether with them. We could have tried to help them.”

August flinched at the accusation. “It’s not that simple. I can explain everything once you come with me—”

“And then what? We hide for the rest of eternity in the outskirts of purgatory while Silas continues to destroy other innocent souls?”

“But—” August shook his head, brows creased together in confusion. “Don’t you understand? It doesn’t matter because then you’d be safe. ”

She pushed herself away from him, just an inch. Enough to come to her senses.

“If one of us wins, we can try to take him down from the inside. There’s nothing we can do if we hide. That’s the easy way out.”

“I don’t care.” A sense of urgency flooded through August’s voice.

A tremor that made her heart twist painfully.

“I want the easy way out. My entire life has been the hard way. The painful way. If we don’t leave now, then—” He ran his hands through his curls and let out a throaty groan.

“You don’t understand. There’s so much I need to tell you. But we’re running out of time.”

“Time for what?” Wren stepped closer.

He froze, eyes locked on hers. A paralyzing moment hovered between them.

But August never got the opportunity to answer her.

He doubled over, hands clamped firmly over his chest, and let out an agonized scream. Every muscle in his neck tensed as his knees gave out beneath him and he collapsed onto the ground.

“August!” Wren bent down, hands frantically searching for a wound, but there was nothing. No cut. No blood. Nothing to indicate what was hurting him. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

He threw his head back as the pain seized his body. Two words slipped out of his mouth.

“Leave. Me.”

Wren tilted her head in confusion. Tears blurred her vision.

“What?” she whispered, voice cracking.

He groaned, the veins in his neck bulging. “Now.”

Something echoed behind them. The sound rumbled in the air like thunder.

It took Wren a second to realize what it was.

Laughter.

“As entertaining as this has been,” said a familiar voice, “I’m afraid we do need to wrap this up. I’m getting quite bored of thetheatrics.”

Wren didn’t understand what she was looking at. It didn’t make any sense.

Louise stood behind her, arms crossed and face twisted in amusement.

She watched Wren with an eerie calmness, a steadiness in her gaze that sent a wave of panic through Wren’s body.

But there was something about her that was different.

Her eyes were no longer the pale blue that reminded Wren of waves and ice.

They were a dark shade of brown. Almost entirely black.

“Lou?”

“Try again.”

And then Louise blinked, her eyes changing from black to their familiar blue. The smile on her face dissipated, replaced by pure panic and desperation.

She looked around in bewilderment.

“Where…where am I?”